The founder and pioneer national chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Ralph Nwosu, said Bala Nafiu Gombe, a former deputy national chairman of the party, frequently begged for transport fare to attend meetings in Abuja.

In a video seen by Peoples Gazette, the ADC founder claimed that Mr Gombe began living in an expensive hotel and moving around with security personnel after taking the leadership dispute to court in September.

“And from that September, he started living in one of the biggest hotels, he started moving around with security. He got bulletproof SUVs, more than three, moving with security,” he said.

He stated that President Bola Tinubu’s administration was interested in the party, noting that the party’s leadership tussle started when Mr Gombe went to court.

“We have tapes where the chief of staff to the president was telling some people to stay in ADC and destroy it,” he said.

Mr Nwosu said the party had concluded its internal leadership process in July before Mr Gombe approached the court in September.

According to him, Mr Gombe’s lifestyle changed after the legal dispute began.

When asked whether Mr Gombe might have acquired the vehicles because he feared for his safety, Mr Nwosu responded: “Yeah, and then you can buy an SUV that is costing over 500 million.”

“Before then, when I invite Bala for a meeting in Abuja, he cannot come until I send him either 150,000 Naira to take a bus to come for a meeting, and so on. And he will not leave until we are able to also scratch out money to pay for his transport,” he said.

Peoples Gazette had previously reported that Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court Division in Abuja voided the presidential candidacy of Atiku Abubakar and the party’s leadership led by Mr Mark.

On May 31, Justice Lifu had fixed June 3 for hearing, seeking to stop Mr Mark and others from parading themselves as leaders of the party.

On April 15, the party expelled Mr Gombe and others for alleged anti-party activities.